Three new voting centers being added in Owensboro

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) - Owensboro now has several new voting centers just in time for May’s primary election.

The Commonwealth’s Secretary of State has officially approved three after months of calls from local leaders to add more.

Voting centers posed a big issue for many people in November.

The city provided free bussing to help folks get to far away locations, but for the president of the Owensboro NAACP, Reverend Rhondalyn Randolph, a move like this was always going to be the best step.

Randolph says last year, when the Owensboro Sportscenter was removed as a voting center, it made voting harder for some residents.

“Communities of color, lower income communities were left out,” says Randolph.

Randolph and many others spent weeks campaigning to see more voting centers added to the city. She says without easier access, people couldn’t reach their polling place, or more often, everyone reached one.

“It was just so many people going there to that location, it was a long wait,” says Randolph.

With all of those issues in mind, the Kentucky Secretary of State finally approved three more voting centers for the next election which include the HL Neblett Community Center, Daviess County Middle School, and the Owensboro Sportscenter is back in action.

“I think we need to open up at least two more,” says Randolph. “There are other locations on the east end that would make accessibility a bit better.”

For now, the city has two new spots, and one old one to get people voting.

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